2005 - "Appoggiatura"

Definition: a melodic tone

Winner: 13-year-old Anurag Kashyap of San Diego, Calif., who correctly spelled sphygmomanometer (a blood-pressure cuff) to make the final round. Fellow contestant Katie Seymour didn't make the cut, but not for lack of trying: "How do you spell that?" she asked the contest's pronouncer.